ePub Headers

Timoleon · 07-27-2009, 12:00 PM

ePub Headers --- with the book title and/or author at the top of each page as it is displayed. Is this a possibility? I think Kovid said that it was not in the ePub specifications at the moment. Is there something inherent in ePub that would prevent this feature from being added as an option?

It's a good way for me to remember what the hell I'm reading...

pepak · 07-27-2009, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timoleon

Is there something inherent in ePub that would prevent this feature from being added as an option?

Yes. It is not possible to create such a thing until EPUB specifications change.

pepak · 07-27-2009, 12:15 PM

The only possible solution I can think of is creating an image with author/title in it and using it as a background. I am not so sure EPUB renderers would handle that correctly.

tompe · 07-27-2009, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pepak

Yes. It is not possible to create such a thing until EPUB specifications change.

Does the ePUb specification really says that a reader cannot add a header with author and title? To me it seems it is more a feature of a reader than a feature of the format.

Jellby · 07-27-2009, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timoleon

ePub Headers --- with the book title and/or author at the top of each page as it is displayed. Is this a possibility? I think Kovid said that it was not in the ePub specifications at the moment. Is there something inherent in ePub that would prevent this feature from being added as an option?

I don't think Kovid said that. He said that it is in the specification, but that no ePUB reader currently supports it.

The closest thing to a working header is ADE's page templates, but that's an Adobe-exclusive extension.

Other than that, adding book-wide information like title and author in some visible place is something that any ebook viewer could do, no need of the ePUB specification to allow it. We only need someone to design a user-friendly, fully-configurable, specs-compliant ePUB reader... so easy

JSWolf · 07-27-2009, 01:51 PM

And besides, we don't need headers t waste page space. Plus they don't really look good.

zelda_pinwheel · 07-27-2009, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

And besides, we don't need headers t waste page space. Plus they don't really look good.

*ahem* "in your opinion".

personally, i like headers very much. i think they do look good and they serve a useful purpose as well. and clearly some other people also like them. i do hope that support for displaying them will be added very soon, whether it's the reading software or the spec which needs to be updated.

Timoleon · 07-27-2009, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

And besides, we don't need headers t waste page space. Plus they don't really look good.

The way that the Sony Reader PRS-505 displays headers in lrf files looks great, in my opinion, and takes up very little space!

Jellby · 07-27-2009, 02:41 PM

The way I use the headers in my custom PDFs is perfect, and I'm a modest man

zelda_pinwheel · 07-27-2009, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timoleon

The way that the Sony Reader PRS-505 displays headers in lrf files looks great, in my opinion, and takes up very little space!

the eb1150 does a pretty great job of it too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jellby

The way I use the headers in my custom PDFs is perfect, and I'm a modest man

it's just one of your many charms.

Kostas · 07-27-2009, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timoleon

The way that the Sony Reader PRS-505 displays headers in lrf files looks great, in my opinion, and takes up very little space!

OK, so, does anyone know how to generate a header in lrf with the chapter title???
By default (selecting the header option), Calibre adds title and author (%t and %a respectively).
How could anyone pass the chapter title argument??
(Sorry, I just realize that I'm slighlty

. Is this an ePub thread!?!?)

pepak · 07-27-2009, 03:02 PM

Well, I thought you meant universal headers. Of course a renderer could display them, but that would be a proprietary extension.

Jellby · 07-28-2009, 04:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pepak

Well, I thought you meant universal headers. Of course a renderer could display them, but that would be a proprietary extension.

If it needs something done in the book, then it's a propietary extension (e.g. ADE page templates).

If it can be done with every book, it is a reader feature. The Cybook can display headers for mobipocket files, I don't see why any reader couldn't do the same with ePUB (or any other format).

pepak · 07-28-2009, 05:15 AM

Jellby: Well, a "reader feature" is the same thing as "proprietary extension" - EPUB does specify how a book should be rendered, and any different rendition is proprietary. It doesn't matter where the additional rendition comes from (it could just as well come from the filename, for example, and wouldn't be any less proprietary because of that, even though the book file itself would remain unchanged).

JSWolf · 07-28-2009, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timoleon

The way that the Sony Reader PRS-505 displays headers in lrf files looks great, in my opinion, and takes up very little space!

At 10 point I can get 27 lines per screen in LRF. A 400 page book will take about 14 or 15 extra page turns. Plus, I prefer to have as much text on the screen as I can. And to be honest, I should already know what book I am reading. If you had a book with a lot of chapters, then I can understand wanting a footer showing that chapter you are on. But as for a header, it's not all that useful.

What would be perfect in ePub is the ability to turn headers and footers on or off. Of course we need to have headers and footers in the first place.

07-27-2009, 12:00 PM	#1
Timoleon Time Enough at Last Posts: 387 Karma: 1151316 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: New England Device: iPad 3, iPhone 5, Kindle 3, Fire, Sony PRS-350	ePub Headers ePub Headers --- with the book title and/or author at the top of each page as it is displayed. Is this a possibility? I think Kovid said that it was not in the ePub specifications at the moment. Is there something inherent in ePub that would prevent this feature from being added as an option? It's a good way for me to remember what the hell I'm reading...

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07-27-2009, 12:15 PM	#3
pepak Guru Posts: 610 Karma: 4150 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: Sony Reader PRS-T3, Kobo Libra H2O	The only possible solution I can think of is creating an image with author/title in it and using it as a background. I am not so sure EPUB renderers would handle that correctly.

07-27-2009, 01:51 PM	#6
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 78,930 Karma: 143098300 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	And besides, we don't need headers t waste page space. Plus they don't really look good.

07-27-2009, 02:41 PM	#9
Jellby frumious Bandersnatch Posts: 7,542 Karma: 19001583 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Spaniard in Sweden Device: Cybook Orizon, Kobo Aura	The way I use the headers in my custom PDFs is perfect, and I'm a modest man

07-27-2009, 03:02 PM	#12
pepak Guru Posts: 610 Karma: 4150 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: Sony Reader PRS-T3, Kobo Libra H2O	Well, I thought you meant universal headers. Of course a renderer could display them, but that would be a proprietary extension.

07-28-2009, 05:15 AM	#14
pepak Guru Posts: 610 Karma: 4150 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: Sony Reader PRS-T3, Kobo Libra H2O	Jellby: Well, a "reader feature" is the same thing as "proprietary extension" - EPUB does specify how a book should be rendered, and any different rendition is proprietary. It doesn't matter where the additional rendition comes from (it could just as well come from the filename, for example, and wouldn't be any less proprietary because of that, even though the book file itself would remain unchanged).